It was raining when Anita walked into the federal courthouse.
Not a storm—just a steady, deliberate rain. Fitting, she thought. Some wars weren't thunderous. Some began with the quiet turning of a lock.
She was flanked by two attorneys. No press. No entourage. She wanted this first move silent. Controlled.
Inside her bag was the key to Marcus Delaney's destruction: the Elektra ledger, printed, timestamped, and corroborated by Clara's testimony.
The motion they were filing wasn't flashy. Not yet.
It was a petition to reopen shareholder fraud investigations, paired with a request for an emergency injunction on GNV's pending merger with Ashcroft Holdings—Marcus's final play for absolute control.
Anita signed her name at the bottom without hesitation.
"You're sure about this?" her lawyer asked. "There's no going back."
She met his eyes. "I don't want back. I want forward."
By noon, the filings hit the docket.
By 3 p.m., the boardroom at GNV was in chaos.
The motion had triggered a freeze on the merger and an internal audit request from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Emails flew. Phones rang nonstop. And Marcus?
Marcus was nowhere to be found.
Julian brought the news into Anita's office personally.
"He's rattled," he said, setting a document on her desk. "You just cut his lungs out. Quietly."
She read the update with calm satisfaction. Then her fingers tapped against the desk thoughtfully.
"Now we make noise," she said. "The right kind."
"Press?"
"No. Whispers. I want the board nervous. I want the sharks to smell blood before the water turns red."
Julian nodded. "You want them to turn on him themselves."
"Exactly."
She turned her gaze toward the window, where the rain had lightened into mist.
This wasn't vengeance. It was justice.
And she wasn't finished.
Not until Marcus Delaney lost everything—legally, publicly, permanently.